Reunions
by Ree923
Summary: follow up to Jack's quest...the hunt for Aten continues and more mysteries are on the horizon...


The Doctor ran through the corridors of the Tardis like a madman, shouting at the people behind him to follow and for god's sakes stay away from the rest of the doors in that hallway. Too stunned to speak, his new crew ran to keep up with him, never asking what was happening. Risa held Will's hand tightly and Arek's mouth twisted in what might have been a sad grin as he saw them run together.

As they gathered in the control room, the Doctor flipped a level on the console and a soft whisper could be heard, like two small heartbeats echoing off each other. Jack frowned and looked at his friend.

"Rose and the — baby," the Doctor explained softly. He took a deep breath and ran around the console feeding coordinates into the ship and muttering to himself. "I'm coming Rose. For you and our baby. Believe in me." He hoped she could hear him through their bond, but he couldn't be sure yet, their bond was so new and fragile. One more flip of a lever and he was sure they were on course. Once that was done he looked up and seemed almost surprised to see how crowded the room was.

"Jack, since these people seem to be part of your mess, kindly keep them out of my control room."

"And just where would you like for me to stick them?" Jack asked, annoyed.

"Away from here, yeah? You know where all the bedrooms are on this ship, go find some for the stowaways and get back here. We have unfinished business."

The Doctor turned back to his mutterings and Jack resisted the urge to spin the Doctor around and punch him soundly in the mouth. There would be time for that later, he decided and led the others down a long hallway, pausing for a brief moment at Rose's door, then onward down to empty rooms at the end of the hall. After showing everyone their own room, he headed back towards the pain of seeing the Doctor again and the argument he knew was coming.

Visions of Rose filled Jack's mind, the sound of her laughter - mostly at him, running with him, rainbow rain and rescues past. Visions of his life with his family, too long ago to matter to him anymore; but still too strong to ignore raced relentlessly over each other. Too many memories fought for dominance in his head and he found himself veering away from the path to the Doctor and into his own room. Slamming the door didn't give him much satisfaction, but he opened the door and slammed it again — much harder this time. The Tardis growled a warning to him as he looked like he was going to kick a wall.

Throwing himself onto his bed he screamed endlessly and the tears that had been waiting behind his stoic demeanor burst through. His sobs filled the room entirely and in the background, the Tardis quietly cried with him as she sped through space and time.

-

Rose was not happy. She was furious in fact and intended on making this idiot aware of it. Once Aten and Rose had materialized, with the Duke and some ugly white serpent right behind them, she'd been thrown into a cell and left to her own devices. She looked at the Duke in faint surprise as an amulet around his neck glowed red. A matching amulet on Aten's robes glowed the same eerie color of blood. At her look, Aten had explained that the Duke wasn't really the Duke, he was a shapeshifter bound to Aten until death or some such nonsense. She didn't understand it and she didn't want to - she just knew she had to escape.

She paced, her heart and mind racing. How did the situation get so out of control? She'd been captured before, but her captors had never jumped dimensions before - this was not going to be an easy rescue for her Doctor. And he needed to rescue her so that she could kill him. Pregnant? He hadn't seemed surprised with Aten started talking about it in the banquet hall. Was he going to tell her? Was he now going to get the chance to tell her anything? Biting her lip, she pushed that last thought out of her head and started thinking.

Surely the Doctor knew how to find her and the baby. The baby. She put a hand over her stomach and tensed. What had Aten said? Mother of a whole new generation of Time Lords. Not bloody likely. Not with her child. She'd kill Aten first with her bare hands. She closed her eyes and concentrated. The slight murmur in her head was there again, almost like someone was searching for her mind, listening. She felt him now and knew him. Sending a burst of love and fear to him, she sensed panic for a moment. Then calming assurances and a message she heard loud and clear. "I'm coming Rose. For you and our baby. Believe in me."

She would believe in him. To do anything else would be giving up - and the one thing a Tyler never did was give up. The other thing a Tyler never did was wait for a rescue when there was so much damage that could be done in the mean time. A wicked smile crossed her lips. Timeto make mum proud. 

dddArek didn't know if he should be sitting in his room, useless. He needed to be doing something or he'd go mad with the waiting. He jumped when there was a knock on his door, and ran to answer it, a part of him hoping it was Jack. Risa stood there looking agitated. He motioned for her to come in and closed the door behind them. She sat on a nearby chair and sighed. He didn't say anything, just waited for her to start talking.

"Arek, what is happening here? You know these people, can they find my grandfather?"

"If your grandfather is anywhere near Rose Tyler, then you have nothing to worry about, Risa. The Doctor will move Time itself to get her back. And Jack," he stopped watching her reaction.

"Jack," she repeated. The name stuck in her throat. She was to believe that her grandfather, a great wizard, had fathered a man from another dimension. And had never thought to tell anyone. Men and their secrets, it never ended. She pushed the thought from her mind and cleared her throat.

"What do you know about Jack, and this Doctor?" Risa asked, shifting a bit on her chair. He pulled out a bottle of brandy Jack had left in his room and offered her a drink. Gratefully she accepted and they drank in comfortable silence for a few moments. When Arek spoke, his voice was tinged with regret.

"Jack was my mate. At least, I thought he was. He tricked me to get some power source from my tribe and he left me behind. I thought I could make him love me, but well, that didn't happen. Then I thought he had feelings for you — I mean — he kissed you," Arek's voice trailed off at the look on Risa's face. She motioned for him to refill her glass and drank it down in one long gulp. She seemed to think for a bit before answering him.

"Jack Harkness seems to kiss a lot of people. It's his way of saying hello. Or goodbye. Or what's for dinner?" Arek laughed at that and nodded. Jack was always friendly. They each drank down another glass of brandy and smiled at each other. Risa looked like she wanted to say something, but instead reached for the brandy. Arek tried not to laugh as she slurred her next question.

"And this Doctor?" Risa continued. "And this — ship? We are actually on a vessel of some sort?" Her head started to spin a bit, but she was still in control. As long as she didn't stand up, think, or have to use the bathroom.

"The Tardis, she's alive you know," Arek whispered, looking up at the ceiling. Risa laughed, then stopped abruptly. That made her a bit dizzy.

"Alive? You can't be serious," the knock at the door made them both jump. Will's voice came through loud and clear.

"Hello? Arek? Are you in there?"

Arek opened the door and smiled. Will walked in and noticing Risa, raised an eyebrow and she raised her glass. He sat on the bed and kicked off his shoes.

"Pour me one of those Arek, I could use a nip of something," he said brightly. As he raised his lips to the offered glass, Will shuddered lightly. "Pretty strong, but I could get used to it."

Will stretched out like a cat and drank his drink thoughtfully. "Well, we seem to be in the middle of a battle. How do we all feel about that?"

"I'm in. Rose is a nice girl and," he glanced at Risa, "if I can help Risa find her family, then I'll do it." Risa smiled at Arek in thanks before answering.

"I can't go back to my grandmother and tell her I gave up looking for Wymond. He's not blood, but he is family," Risa said quietly. The others looked at her, curious.

"Wymond came to Maeve an old man. He'd been to many worlds, seen many things. His captors finally put him with Maeve to wait."

"Wait? For what?" Arek asked.

"Not what, who. Jack. Though we didn't know it was Jack. Grandmother seemed to know. She said Jack was not his real name and he was on a quest. That tipped," she burped, "tipped me off that something was a bit off with the man. But I couldn't get anything out of Grandmother other than we would all know our true purpose soon enough." She looked over at Will.

"That leaves you, Will - what is your vote? Stay or run?"

"Well if you two are staying, I'm staying. Can't see that our world would be much fun without the two of you." He said the words to both, but his eyes were on Arek. Arek didn't ponder the meaning there, just raised his glass and smiled at his new friends.

"All right then, we are now a team. Let's drink!" The three raised their glasses and downed their brandy. If the Tardis would have had eyes, they would be rolling in amused tolerance of the young ones and their plans.

-

The Doctor was pacing. Jack hated that, it made it look like Jack was just standing still, doing nothing. He'd come into the control room, ready to fight but as yet, the Doctor hadn't even acknowledged him. It was driving him crazy. Time to start a fight.

"How did you know about my father?" he asked. No answer.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jack persisted. Still nothing.

"Why did you let Rose get involved with hunting a demon that could destroy her before we could save her and your unborn child?" Jack asked again, eyes locked onto the Doctor's face. This last question got him a glare from his friend, but no response.

Jack grabbed a wrench, then realized there was nothing to repair. At least nothing that tools could fix. He sighed and tried again.

"Tell me about my father," he said softly. "Please."

"Your dad was approached to do some light government work. Nothing risky, but his military background made him a good risk. At least that was the story they told him."

"They?"

"Jack, your father worked for an agency that plucked people out of time and messed up their timelines. Sometimes they messed it up so bad they had to erase memories. Like two years worth in certain cases." He waited for that to sink into Jack's head. When it did, Jack's gaze became unreadable.

"Are you trying to tell me that my father worked for the Time Agency?"

"I'm telling you that your father was working to destroy the Time Agency. And he got pretty damn close to destroying a lot more." 


End file.
